Atlantis Cleared for Re-Entry

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
Atlantis Cleared for Re-Entry; Crew Eyes Thursday Landing
Mission Control Houston gave the STS-115 crew good news this morning:
Mission managers cleared Space Shuttle Atlantis for landing. The first
available landing opportunity is at 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 UTC)Thursday at
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
The word came after engineers reviewed heat shield inspections performed
by the crew. The inspections were conducted to ensure all of Atlantisí
critical equipment is in good shape.
To get ready for landing, the crew packed up gear and stowed the Ku-Band
antenna, which is used for most shuttle television transmissions.
Forecasts for Thursday call for acceptable weather at the Florida
landing site.
Atlantisí first and prime landing opportunity begins with a de-orbit
burn at 5:14 a.m.(0914 UTC), to start the descent to Florida. A second
opportunity is available, beginning with a de-orbit burn at 6:50 a.m.
leading to a landing at 7:57 a.m. in Florida.
The STS-115 mission has resumed the construction of the International
Space Station. Atlantis delivered the P3/P4 integrated truss to the
station on Sept. 11. The STS-115 and Expedition 13 crews used the
shuttle and station robotic arms to attach the truss to the orbital
outpost. Then STS-115 astronauts conducted three spacewalks in four days
to prepare the truss and its solar arrays for operation.
For the latest information on space station activities, please visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
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